Guerrilla Eco-Education: LVHRD Part #2

This post provides more details on a recent party thrown by the organization LVHRD (Live Hard). LVHRD is trying a new approach to spreading the sustainability message. The organization has mounted several recent events for their membership and the public. The hope is to educate people about sustainable lifestyle options. The latest was event held on Tuesday, April 24th.

The event was called Bi-Fold III: GRN. [www.lvhrd.org] In this event LVHRD invited two designers to discuss their work within the context of sustainability. Colin Beavan, the “No Impact Man”, [noimpactman.typepad.com] who has sworn to live a year without toilet paper, was the host for LVHRD’s Bi-Fold III: GRN. Colin, along with his wife, daughter, and dog, are attempting to live in the middle of New York City without making a net impact on the planet.

What made the Bi-Fold III: GRN party look Green? Perhaps the “green” look came from LVHRD’s solution to reduce the waste materials used at the party. As LVHRD stated: “for at least one night there will be no little red beer cups and no plastic wine glasses cluttering up the garbage. This means, of course, that your cup can be whatever you choose. If you’re a water connoisseur, strap on a Camelbak: [www.camelbak.com] NYC local, Fred Water [lovefred.com], will be on hand to keep you hydrated…We want to see hollow skulls, ceramic goblets, and coconuts. You could even line your pockets with plastic bags, or better yet, double up: come with a friend and bring two bendy straws.” I wanted to bring my “conflict-free” [en.wikipedia.org]diamond covered “pimp cup” [www.urbandictionary.com] to imbibe the complementary beer from the, wind powered, [www.brooklynbrewery.com] Brooklyn Brewery, but I thought this may be a bit over the top for a “green” party so I opted for a stainless steel mug from my desk at the office. Reusability is one the most effective ways to lower waste, and you would be surprised how much trash gets left outside the average club every night, even on a slow one.

Russell Robertson’s Taxi-Cab Models

The first invited speaker was Russell Robertson, Co-Founder of Hybrid Product Design and Development. He discussed the future of urban mass transit and how, in 2005, he participated in a concept project with the Design Trust for Public Space in NYC. His team was challenged to create a new kind of sustainable, purpose built, taxi to replace the aging fleet of 8 mpg, yellow, Crown Victoria sedans. (We will try to tell you a bit more about each if these people in a future blog post).

The second creative individual that LVHRD highlighted was Marci Zaroff, Founder of Under the Canopy. [www.underthecanopy.com] Marci, who is said to have coined the term “eco-fashion,” presented a fashion show to showcase her newest line of organic and socially-just fashions.

Marci Zaroff

In any case, the event was, “standing-room-only”, and a big success, bringing out several hundred people with re-useable cups-in-hand. It was great to see so many people come out to learn about the innovative designs of people who are working to help us move toward a sustainable future. I also hope the “bring-your-own-cup-to-get-in” rule, catches on with other promoters and venues in Manhattan. I wonder how may plastic cups from parties, ball games, concerts and festivals [www.besmart.org] go into landfills each year?